Death vs Maelstrom
by Vocivis Lacrimo
Summary: After four thousand years of wandering the Earth, Naruto finds himself back in Japan. When Criminals start dying of heart attacks and he sees L's broadcast, he decides to to find L and help him bring down Kira.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I've had this plot idea rolling around in my brain for weeks now and I needed to express it. After reading multiple works on FanFiction, I have decided to publish this fic here. This isn't the first time I have written a story but this is my first time publishing on FanFiction. I plan for this story to be "Complete". That means I also plan on at least semi-regular updates, hopefully once every 1-2 weeks depending on the length and difficulty of the chapter. With no further waiting here is the pilot chapter of Death vs Maelstrom.**

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

Chapter One: Rebirth

Naruto and Sasuke had been struggling to defeat Kaguya so they had agreed to use a sealing matrix he had designed to pull the bijuu from Kaguya into Naruto using his portions of their chakras like a magnet. However it relied on using the power that Naruto and Sasuke had received from the Rikudou Sennin. As they activated the seal it ripped not only the bijuu from Kaguya but Indra's power from Sasuke. The influx of such a large amount of chakra in such a short amount of time caused a reaction with the power of Indra's and Ashura's marks. While the power of the bijuu was attempting to flow into Naruto's seal, the power of indra was attempting to flow into Naruto himself. The mark began to pull the bijuus' chakras into him and the last thing he remembered before passing out was blinding pain and the pained yells of the bijuu.

When he next awoke he heard a chair scrape to his left and heard Sasuke grumbling.

"Hn. Dobe cant even manage to do a sealing without knocking himself out."

Naruto felt his temper flare and immediately shot up. "Shut up Teme!" He growled as he opened his eyes before looking around. He quickly deduced he was in the Konaha hospital. He noticed Sasuke sitting to his left next to Sakura and Kakashi. Satisfied that his team was okay he attempted to open his link to Kurama only to find nothing. No Kurama, In fact all of the bijuu were gone. As he came back to reality panicked he noticed that His team members looked nervous and worried. He feared the answer more than he ever thought possible but he asked his question anyway, "What happened to the bijuu?"

Sakura looked away and Kakashi sighed. _"No please tell me they're okay. Tell me they're just waiting outside the village!," _he desperately thought not wanting this horrible feeling in his gut to be right.

Sasuke met his desperate gaze and told him the news that he asked for but didn't want to hear, "The sealing went wrong Naruto. The seal was too strong it puled not only bijuu into you but Indra's power as well. Something happened and... Just look." He handed Naruto a mirror. Naruto looked back into his eyes, his red eyes, the eyes of the juubi. As horror began to dawn on him he felt his chakra and then he felt everyone else's. _"Why was everyone's chakra so hard to feel?" _He thought. Then it hit him, theirs was hard to feel because it was small, and his reserves were enourmous, beyond enourmous in fact. "No," he said aloud, "this isn't real."

His team exchanged worried glances before Kakashi finally spoke up, "It is real Naruto. You are the juubi now."

-Roughly 4,000 years later-

Naruto awoke with a jolt when he felt the plane touch down. He was back in Japan. It had been around 500 years since he was here last. He had left on a Portuguese merchant vessel sometime in the 1500's, he wasn't exactly sure time stopped having meaaning to him after Hinata had died. As the plane taxied into the airport he heard the flight attendant giving the usual end of flight speech but he didn't pay attention he just wanted to get to his new apartment and start writing again. He had a deadline coming up for his new book Icha Icha: Life Sentence. The book was about a woman framed for murder and imprisoned where she falls in love with her cell mate who is only has a year sentence. Of course they find themselves in erotic situations quite often. Naruto giggled perversely as he waited in line hashing out the final plot details in his head and the woman behind him gave him a scathing glare which he completely ignored. When he reached the Immigrations counter he handed the officer his passport.

"Uzumaki Naruto huh? Who names their kid fishcake?" The officer stupidly said out loud before Naruto loudly corrected him.

"It means Maelstrom Dammit!"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. No need to yell. How was your trip to the U.K.?" The man asked before stamping his passport and examining his papers.

"It was fine, thanks." He said curtly before he took his papers back from the man's outstretched hand and getting the all clear walked out of the airport. After leaving the airport he hopped on the bus that would take him to the hotel down the road from his apartment. He went to the land lord and grabbed his keys before taking the elevator up to the penthouse suite. As he stepped in he canceled the henge keeping his eyes blue before pulling a scroll out of his bag and unsealing his clothes which he put away and his manuscript material for his next book before moving to the living room and opening his laptop. He checked the time it was just after noon and he had quite awhile to work before making dinner. As he finished typing the last chapter his stomach loudly protested its lack of food.

"Yeah yeah, food, I know." He said out loud before going to the kitchen and switching on the small T.V. On the counter and starting dinner. As soon as the program began talking about someone called Kira he sighed. He knew criminals around the world were dying but not how. He initially assumed it was a government plot or large organization. As the program was interrupted he glanced up from the stir fry he just dumped on his plate and began paying attention. When he saw Lind L. Taylor die after confronting Kira he was floored, and after watching the real L confront Kira he was certain of one thing.

"_Goddammit! What was that power? Whoever this Kira is he obviously has a God complex. I guess I know what my occupation while I'm living here is going to be."_ His mind was whirling and as he finished his meal his thoughts were on L and Kira. _"Looks like I'm breaking out my resumee and joining the police force. Kira needs to be stopped." _He thought glumly before turning his T.V. Off. Naruto was really getting tired of people with God complexes.

**AN: Rate and Review! Constructive criticism is welcome. I'll try to read all reviews and respond to any PMs. Flames will be ignored.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: A big thank you to those who favorited or followed my first chapter. Another thank you to Skyfishin for the pairing suggestion. Honestly I wasn't sure of a pairing for this story yet due to figuring out how to pull Naruto out of his shell, but I feel like Naomi Misora has an attitude that Naruto would appreciate. To be clear on Naruto's attitude for this story, I plan to keep him as in character as possible. He will generally be the same old Naruto, just emotionally distant from other people. Here's the next chapter of Death vs Maelstrom. All future chapters will probably be quite a bit longer than the pilot. The next update will probably be in about a week.**

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

"**Speech through voice filter"**

Chapter 2: Confrontation

As a pair of crimson eyes opened to the screeching of an alarm clock the owner couldn't help but grumble. Naruto Uzumaki was NOT a morning person. As he stumbled into the bathroom and started his shower he went over his plans for the day. He had to go get his degree in law enforcement forged and updated to his new identity, forge school records and employment records, and brainwash some people into thinking they taught him and worked with him. Kotoamatsukami really sucked to use, it always gave him a migraine.

As he let the hot water cascade over his body he stared at his palms, the sun on his right hand and the crescent moon on his left. With Indra's soul bound to him the cycle of reincarnation had ended for the sages sons and with it the cycle of hatred that plagued the shinobi world. As he snapped out of his memories he quickly scrubbed off and got out of the shower. As he brushed his teeth he began to wonder how Kira could kill so easily. He knew it couldn't be a jutsu, the shinobi world was scattered and forgotten when the Elemental nations were claimed by the sea. As it turned out Atlantis wasn't as much of a myth as people thought it was, they just got the name wrong.

After he finished his morning rituals, he walked back into his bedroom and threw on a pair of black slacks and an orange dress shirt. After fixing a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast he slipped on his shoes and activated the henge that kept his eyes blue and walked out the door. As he rode the elevator down it stopped on the thirteenth floor and a man wearing a black overcoat and a suit stepped in. Naruto glanced down and noticed the little orange book peeking out of his bag and smirked. _"Damn those books make me a lot of money."_ He thought to himself as the elevator began descending again.

-Break-

As he re-entered the building after completing his days tasks, he grimaced and rubbed his very sore head. He had received no less than ten emails from his editor bugging him to send in his rough draft. He knew if he put it off any longer he would have to start ignoring phone calls as well. He hurried up to his apartment and emailed the draft to his editor. After he fixed a sandwich for lunch he sat back down and began checking his papers. After checking, verifying, and rechecking his papers he was satisfied that all of his information checked out and he could approach the NPA and work towards bringing down Kira.

His identity was especially difficult, and expensive, to create this time. His application and information would likely be run through the ringer by high level government officials and probably even by L himself. His identity had to be airtight if he wanted to avoid drawing L's suspicions on himself. He'd run by the NPA's office tomorrow to finalize his "transfer" from Gunma and hopefully not get arrested. It's a shame he needed the police to find Kira, otherwise he'd probably just kill him himself.

He went to sleep that night knowing the next day would test his patience with humanity.

-Break-

Naruto woke up feeling better than the day before and after showering and getting dressed, he felt refreshed and ready to get to work. Too bad he couldn't wear any orange on his suit. Damn stuffy government agencies and their obsession with black. It frustrated him immensely to be so creatively restricted. He wore orange boxers just to spite the bastards. He quickly left his apartment and after a boring elevator ride down was on his way.

As Naruto was making his way to the NPA's main building he couldn't help but think back to the last time he had played the role of a detective. He had solved a serial murder case that lead to arrest and hanging of a Dr. Henry Howard Holmes. The bastard was sick and he was glad he had taken him off the streets. His thoughts on the H. H. Holmes case came to an end when he stepped into the NPA building and walked up to the reception desk. "Excuse me sir, is Deputy Director Kitamura in?"

The receptionist glanced up and asked, "What is your name and reason for visiting?"

Naruto flashed his forged badge before speaking "Uzumaki Naruto, transfer from the Gunma office, I'm here to assist with the Kira investigation." Hopefully they wouldn't dig too hard into his records or they would notice that he had never actually been paid anything. It would take days if not weeks to puzzle that fact out though, and by then he could already have a lead to Kira.

The receptionist picked up the phone and called ahead before telling him to head to Kitamura's office. After a short chat with Deputy Director Kitamura he made his way to the Task Force Headquarters Serial Murder office. He saw a man with slicked back black hair and a mustache at the head of the room talking to another man with an afro. "Thank you Aizawa, let me know as soon as you have more information."

The man now known as Aizawa nodded before replying, "Yes Chief." and moving back to his seat.

"_Ah Chief Yagami, my new boss. I should go introduce myself. Hmm? Who's that creepy guy with the computer at the back of the room?"_ His eyes lingered on L's motif on the screen. _"Ahh, so that's how L is staying in contact with the police." _Naruto thought to himself as he approached Chief Yagami. "Chief Yagami a pleasure to meet you, I am the transfer from the Gunma Prefecture sent here to assist in the Kira investigation." He said before bowing slightly.

Chief Yagami turned to look at him before replying, "Ahh, Uzumaki-san I've been expecting you. You can take the seat next to Matsuda." A young looking man with black hair waved at Naruto from his seat while smiling like a loon.

"_Great,"_ Naruto thought morosely, _"This guy reminds me of myself when I was young, and if he is anything like me I'll be contemplating shooting myself by the end of the week. Not that it would do any good."_ He sighed as he turned back to Chief Yagami. "What should I be working on for now, sir?"

"At the moment we are investigating the availability of the information of the victims and the times of death for all victims and compiling a time frame for the killings. Just take some of Matsuda's files for now." The Chief quickly went back to looking through his own stack of papers before Naruto could protest the grave injustice of being forced to work with the innocent and probably annoying rookie.

As he sat down next to Matsuda he could practically see the boy vibrating in his seat. Before he he could even grab a file, the questions came spilling out of Matsuda's mouth. "Wow, so you're a transfer from Gunma, what's it like there? Is that your natural hair color? How do you get it to spike like that? What about those marks on your cheeks? Wow, you look kinda like a manga character!What about..."

Naruto sighed and proceeded to ignore the chatterbox as best as he could, answering as few questions as possible, with as few words as possible. His patience with humanity was being tested. His focus immediately went to the case however when he began sorting through the criminals files and recording the times of death. Matsuda didn't seem to notice that he wasn't really paying attention anymore and rattled on for another five minutes before finally shutting up and working. He began carefully memorizing and sorting this information in his mind so he could search for patterns later.

-L POV-

L listened to Aizawa give a report to Chief Yagami about a few people who called in claiming to be Kira. Preposterous, as if the real Kira would confess to his crimes. He obviously believed himself not only above the law, but a paradigm of justice as well. His attention was quickly drawn do a man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and strange whisker marks on his cheeks. L didn't miss the way the man's eyes quickly scanned the room, or the way they lingered for just a split second longer on Watari and the computer. The man was fairly tall, he would approximate, at 5'10", and tan. Suspicious. He watched as he introduced himself as a transfer from Gunma Prefecture. His name was clearly Japanese and spoke the language flawlessly and without a foreign accent, yet he looked very much like a foreigner. He watched him sit down next to Matsuda, and as the rookie began to ask questions in rapid fire at the man, he couldn't help but feel a momentary pang of pity for the poor blonde.

His pity was soon swept aside for suspicion as he studied the man closely. He pulled up the blonde's file and began to read. _"Why did he wait until now to transfer? Why didn't he do it as soon as the investigation into Kira became official? It must have been the broadcast. That's the only significant event which corresponds to his request for transfer which came in the very next day. Maybe he was impressed by my skill and felt compelled to join the investigation? Unlikely. He walked into Headquarters like he owned the place. His posture shows he isn't nervous or even tense. He just looks bored, and irritated. I would be too if I had to sit next to Matsuda."_

As he skimmed over his file he decided a full background check was in order.

-Naruto POV-

The next few days were extremely trying for Naruto as he sifted through information and ignored Matsuda's rambling. He felt something tickling the back of his mind as he glanced over his list one more time. Then something hit him he handed his notes on the victims times of death to the man in charge of organizing them, someone called Tamaki if he remembered correctly. "Hey, your name is Tamaki right?" At the mans nod he continued, "Can I take a look at those notes?"

Tamaki handed him the notes he had collected with a confused look on his face. "Sure but why do you want to see them?" the man asked.

"Nothing to worry about Tamaki I just want to check something." He began scanning through the notes ignoring the section detailing calls and tips and checked the section examining the availability of the knowledge. His eyes widened fractionally and his posture slightly stiffened. _"Shit, I really hope my hunch is wrong."_ He thought as he handed the notes back to Tamaki and gave him his own as well. _"I mean. Needing only a name and face to kill someone, that's absurd!"_

"_No more absurd than a tiny, blonde, human-sized being able to single handedly knock humanity back to the stone age."_ His brain helpfully supplied. Kira's victims all had their names and photographs broadcast on T.V. While this wasn't conclusive in and of itself, a man who Kira killed had his information broadcast on T.V., followed by another man whose name was misspelled. The second man whose crime was worse wasn't killed until the News station ran another story on him the next day, in which they apologized for spelling his name incorrectly and ran a story with more information on his trial. He remembered watching that one on T'.V. The criminal was killed within minutes of the broadcast being he made his way back to his seat, there was no way for him to know that L was watching his interaction with Tamaki.

-L POV-

L watched as the task force assembled their processed information. He especially watched Naruto. What he had found in the last couple of days was disturbing. Or rather, it was what he hadn't found that bothered him. All of his records checked out. A few bits here and there were missing but that was to be expected. No, what bothered him was that he couldn't find a single picture of the man anywhere other than on his official papers. He was a ghost. Another inconsistency was that the Gunma Headquarters insisted he was at work last week. Yet he had discovered that the blonde had just flown back into the country a few days ago from the U.K. When he tried to check the airports surveillance footage of that day, he found that all video footage and pictures he was in that day had been erased. Suspicious.

"_If it weren't for the fact that the man had been out of the country at the time Kira started killing, I would suspect him of being Kira. As it stands he still may be an accomplice. I need to keep a close eye one him. No one normal can pull the kinds of strings he pulls, I should know I pull those same strings all the time." _He pondered as he watched the blonde walk over to Tamaki He thought it odd that he asked to see the notes Tamaki was compiling. When the blonde suddenly stiffened and his eyes widened, he didn't miss it. He had noticed something, but what? What would he notice in those notes. "_What did he notice in those notes? I'll have a copy of them sent over after the meeting tonight is concluded."_

L watched as the blonde handed the notes back to Tamaki before sitting back down next to Matsuda, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. He would watch him carefully in the meeting as well.

-Naruto POV-

As he sat back down he felt exhausted. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. This was why he stopped detective work after the H. H. Holmes case, it was too damn tiring. As the minutes passed by Chief Yagami called the meeting to order starting with the tip line report. As the man named Mogi mentioned that twenty-one people called in claiming to be Kira the negative emotions in the room spiked. As Tamaki read off the time frames for the murders no one but L noticed Naruto stiffen again as he correctly deduced that Kira was likely a student. As L voiced Naruto's previous thoughts on Kira's identity he couldn't help but sigh.

When Matsuda opened his mouth and mentioned the decrease in violent crime, Naruto, again, had to pinch the bridge of his nose. _"Yeah sure it'll all be good for a while. But eventually the people will fear Kira and that will eventually lead to panic and possibly yet more violence. Seriously when will people learn that ruling by fear never works!"_

"**Chief Yagami, please have a copy of all the notes taken tonight sent with Watari."** L's mechanical voice said before the meeting was dismissed. Naruto was one of the last to pack up. As he stepped out into the night air he heard L's filtered voice from his left. He looked over and saw a black car with the back door being held open by Watari. What L said made his stomach bottom out as unease filled him. **"Uzumaki-san, please allow Watari to drive you home. In the meantime, I think we need to have a little chat."**

"_Well shit." _Naruto thought.

**AN: That wraps up chapter two. I doubt the next update will be as fast as this one but I already had this partially typed up and the free time to finish it. From this point onwards things are going to be getting more intense as Naruto has to avoid L's suspicions and deal with the deaths of the FBI agents sent to Japan. Thanks for reading please rate and review! Flames will be ignored.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you to all of those who added my story as a favorite or followed it. In response to a guest review proposing Misa as a harem pairing option for this story I will have to post a response. Naruto will not have a harem. I feel that working Misora into a harem would not be realistic. She doesn't strike me as the type of girl to tolerate a harem. It would make for awkward story telling. Also Misa is totally devoted to Kira/Light so trying to twist that into a usable pairing would throw off the dynamic of the story. Sorry if this breaks some hearts but that's how I feel. While Naruto does have the same attitude in general he is also very withdrawn in matters of the heart. He uses masks to project ho he wants to be perceived and avoids forming bonds with people he knows are going to die. So while he still may act goofy and have moments of stupidity don't expect him to suddenly start having friends or sharing his secrets, let alone taking two girlfriends. On with the chapter.**

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

"**Speech through voice filter"**

Chapter 3: Dealings

Naruto was nervous, very nervous. L shouldn't have made a move on him yet. He had planned on using the police as a means to get close to L, but he hadn't planned on interacting directly with L yet. Naruto sat down in the back seat careful to keep the computer facing him. Watari got into the driver's seat a moment later and they began driving. Naruto gave him his address and Watari typed it into his GPS.

"**I'll get straight to the point Uzumaki-san. I want to know what you discovered in those notes earlier." **L's mechanical voice said as soon as they began moving.

Naruto internally sighed in relief he had thought L was suspicious of him. He had hoped to investigate into this matter on his own and try to prove or disprove it before bringing attention to it, but now was a good time to start earning L's trust. If he wasn't honest with L now though it would be even harder to work with him in the future. "I noticed, that all the criminals murdered seem to have had both their names and faces shown on either the T.V. Or internet and there was two criminal files in particular that caught my eye." He paused there and took a breath.

"The files in question belongs to Arata Hideyoshi and Yoshio Kozo. Both of their crimes were announced on the evening news back to back. Yoshio who killed his neighbor was killed immediately. Arata kidnapped, tortured, and raped a mother and her daughter before killing them and dumping their bodies in a park. He wasn't killed until the next day when the news station aired a second report on him, in which they apologized for spelling his name wrong. All of the criminals Kira has killed have had their name and face made publicly available. The circumstances of these two criminals suggest that Kira needs a name and a face to kill. I was going to do more research into it to be sure before I told anyone." Naruto ended his speech and stared at L's screen expectantly.

-L POV-

As Naruto finished speaking L was astounded. This boy barely out of college whom he had never heard of before, had deduced his own suspicions in so little time. How had this blonde avoided notice for so long? There was something beyond suspicious about Naruto. L's network was the best in the world he had files everyone with the political, financial, and intellectual power capable of infiltrating one of his investigations, but Naruto was nowhere. He needed to get closer Naruto and determine his secrets, so for now he would play along. L noticed that Naruto was waiting and looking expectantly at the camera. L wasn't fooled, he was certain that Naruto was an excellent actor. Finally he spoke.

"Uzumaki-san, it is imperative that you not share your hunch with anyone yet. As I announced at the end of the meeting I would like for the task force to investigate the availability of information pertaining to the criminals and the ways which it was made publicly available. I would like to ask, however, how someone of your caliber has remained hidden for so long."

L noticed the subtle tightening around the blondes eyes that betrayed his surprise. Most people wouldn't have noticed and under the circumstances L had to give him credit; the blonde had excellent control over both his body and emotions but not enough to escape his notice. L spoke again not giving Naruto time to play dumb. "Don't look so surprised. Surely you don't think you could infiltrate my investigation and not expect me to find out. You are a ghost Uzumaki-san. Simply put you don't exist. Yes you have the proper papers and connections but no true history here. All surveillance of you including photographs mysteriously vanishes. After looking closely into your recent stint to the U.K. I found out that you were only there long enough to leave. You popped out of nowhere and I don't like unknown variables in my investigations. It's only natural I would investigate you."

L watched as Naruto digested the information that L had just divulged. It was amusing to watch him process the fact that his cover was blown. He clearly underestimated L's power and resources. Information was his life, his domain, and if Naruto thought he could walk in under his nose and avoid detection he was sadly mistaken. Suddenly Naruto's facade broke replaced with a cool mask of indifference and he spoke.

"I see that rumors of your abilities were greatly downplayed L. I had expected you to crack my alias but not so soon. I was hoping to have more time to earn your trust and convince you of my sincerity before that happened. I've underestimated you, that won't happen again." As the blonde stopped to choose his next words, L was thinking. The enigma had all but admitted to forgery to him. It would likely be pointless to file charges against him. He had friends in high places, as the expression went, and would likely disappear if L pushed too hard. Finally the blonde spoke again.

"I assure you L I want nothing more than to catch Kira. I want him captured, convicted, and executed. The world doesn't need another maniac with dreams of godhood or world domination." Naruto paused for a moment to take a deep steadying breath. Curious, the choice of words preceding that action lead L to believe that either Naruto had previous experience with maniacs of Kira's caliber, or really hated Kira. Then there was the possibility that this was an act to get close to him and divulge his identity to Kira. Before L could ponder further Naruto continued. "All I ask, L, is that you continue to allow my presence as an investigator on the Kira case. It allows you to keep easy tabs on me, stops me from investigating on my own and not sharing information, and allows me to pursue my goal of ending Kira. We all win."

L didn't even need to think about it. His own curiosity now demanded that the blonde's secrets be discovered. As the car got closer to their destination L kept silent as he watched Naruto.

-Naruto POV-

L was silent as the car got closer to his apartment building. _"Really as if such cheap intimidation tactics would work on me. I could teleport away before you could finish an order to capture me."_ Having L's information to the Kira case was vital, however and he couldn't risk giving it up. L had to trust him if only a little. Finally L spoke as they pulled into the parking lot.

"**Very well Uzumaki-san. I will allow you to continue investigating the Kira case without drawing attention to your alias with the task force. I will be keeping an eye on you though so don't think for a moment you are clear of suspicion."**

Naruto sighed in relief then smiled slightly before responding. "Thank you L. Well I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow. Well I'll see Watari anyway. Thanks for the ride."

"**Goodnight Uzumaki-san."** Was L's short reply before Naruto stepped out of the car and watched them drive away.

As Naruto entered his appartment he let his mask dropped and clutched his head. "Dammit! I can't believe he found me out so fast! Ugh I wish I could get drunk!" He yelled before changing into his pajamas and slumping down onto his bed. He fell asleep that night fuming at L and how his plans were so easily foiled.

-Two Days Later-

That evening Naruto was unhappy. Somehow Kira had gained access to police information, successfully sowing the seeds of mistrust into the department. No doubt L was going to step up his investigations into the task force and Naruto himself. Kira was likely trying to get the police to form a resentment towards L and start investigating L. As if they would find anything. L was far too careful for that. Then there was the matter of Kira being able to control the time of death as well. Wherever and whenever, if Kira knows a name and face he can kill someone. The thought worried the blonde ex-shinobi. The theory that Kira only needed a name and a face to kill was all but confirmed. Now he found out he can determine the time of death beforehand. Kira sure was showing a lot of his cards letting the police and L know that they have a leak and that he can controll the time of death of his victims. Still if he was trying to inspire fear it was a good tactic. He could feel the fear clouding the emotions in the room. Three men got up and walked to Chief Yagami's desk and placed a three pieces of paper on his desk before Chief Yagami yelled.

"What's this about?!"

The man in the middle spoke. "With all due respect chief we're resigning. We're demanding we be assigned to a different case, otherwise you can have our badges right here and now,"

"But why?" Chief Yagami asked."You're good cops."

The man didn't hesitate before responding. "Isn't it clear, it's because we value out lives, sir."

The man on his right immediately spoke up. "If what L says is true, Kira has some ESP like power that somehow allows him to kill people indirectly, from anywhere." The final man of the group made his opinion known.

"Well if I were Kira, sir, I'd probably want to try and get rid of the people who are trying to catch me."

"Lets face it he knows he'll be sentenced to death if he's caught."

"We all sat here and watched as L decided to pull that media stunt and challenged Kira to kill him. Well it was all very impressive at the time, but then L never had to show his face or reveal his name for that matter. I'm sure you remember L's last request? He asked that we take a closer look at how these victims identities were made public and specifically to determine whether photos of the victims were available to the public prior to their deaths. Well it turns out he was right! Every single one of those victims names and photos were broadcast to the Japanese public and then they died! Unlike someone we know we're out there investigating this case with police ID's with our names and photos on them. Anybody with a computer can find out who we are! We don't hide our faces we're out in the open!"

"Sir' the truth is we could be killed by Kira at any time."

"So for these reasons we refuse to continue working this case. Excuse us. Chief."

As they walked out of the room and Chief Yagami yelled after them Naruto couldn't help but scoff. Cowards, the lot of them. Giving into their fear so easily and caving. Naruto was beyond disappointed in them. He knew more would quit, it was inevitable. Until only the most dedicated few were left. Naruto's eye's widened and he turned to look at L. _"So that's your plan. Wait until only the most dedicated few are left before placing any amount of trust in them. That's pretty harsh."_ The man was a genius he had to admit, but he was also cold. He sighed before gathering his things and leaving for the night. Dealing with L was hard enough for him, and he was a very patient man. If the task force ever found out L's plan they would be furious.

**AN: This chapter was particularly difficult for me to write, my muse was very fickle this week. Anyway hoped you enjoyed it and as always Rate and Review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm not dead. Sorry for the slow update I've been pretty busy as of late. Real life happened and my muse has been doing a very good impression of a rock. Thanks for being patient. Here's Chapter 4.**

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

"**Speech through voice filter"**

Chapter 4: Pursuit

Naruto was really annoyed. Not only had L been more distant lately, but Kira was also experimenting on his victims. And to top it all off, for the past three days he was being followed. No doubt L called in a few favors and was having everyone on the task force investigated. While Naruto was annoyed that he was being followed, what really bugged him was that the guy tailing him was really bad at his job. Seriously, who wears shoes with soles that hard? The guy was making all sorts of noise and the shinobi in Naruto was appalled that the man was considered a professional. The rising urge to prank the guy was hard to suppress. Finally he gave in, he couldn't take it anymore, this guy was getting pranked.

Naruto slipped into an alley and quickly used Kamui to teleport right behind the FBI agent using some bushes as cover. He slipped quietly up behind the FBI agent and prepared to scare the guys pants off. The guy looked down the alley and got a confused look on his face before muttering, "Where the hell did he go?"

Naruto took his cue and leaned up to the guy, "You lookin' for me?" he asked with a cheeky grin. The man spun around and his hand went to his chest. His eyes were wide with terror and after clutching his chest and crying out, he crumpled to the ground dead.

Naruto blinked... and he blinked again... a third time. "I didn't do that did I?" Naruto just stared at the corpse for a few more seconds before frowning and squatting down and checking the guy's pulse. _"Yep, just like I thought. Dead as a door nail."_ He pulled out his phone before dialing 110. After informing the dispatcher of the situation he called task force headquarters and informed Chief Yagami. He hung up the phone and settled in to wait. He had to preserve the integrity of the crime scene after all.

-Break-

"_Well it looks like the shit finally hit the fan."_ Thought one blonde Uzumaki as the chief yelled at L through the laptop he used to communicate with the police force.

"Are we now suspects in our own investigation?!" The chief continued yelling at the screen.

Naruto just sat there rubbing his temples while trying to ignore all the negative emotions filling the room. Anger, hate, betrayal, and fear. It was all getting really annoying these people were up and down all the time constantly shifting emotions at the drop of a hat. Their lack of emotional control and willpower was... unnerving. Then there was that unsettling message Kira sent L through those criminals. _"'L, did you know? Gods of Death, love apples.' How absurd there's no way that Kira made a deal with the Shinigami for power is there? That would require chakra, and a decent amount of it too. Then there is the whole matter of Kira still being alive. Any deal with the Shinigami uses the summoners soul as part of the bargain. Still it isn't something I can write off. Undoubtedly L has already dismissed it as nothing more than a little joke from Kira. It won't hurt to keep an open mind." _

Naruto's thoughts came to an end as the chief sat down heavily in his chair at the front of the room. He could feel the resolve and nervousness rolling off the chief. He was a man Naruto could respect, he stuck to his beliefs to the end. Men like him were becoming rarer these days. After a few minutes of quiet chattering and fearful speculation among the other cops the chief spoke up.

"Everyone go home for the day. Speak with your families and decide whether or not you want to continue on in this investigation. We will meet again at 9:00 AM." The Chief gathered his things and made hs way to the door pausing only to grab his coat before exiting. The rest of the room began chattering as they gathered their things and prepared to leave. Naruto just sat there taking in the emotions of the people in the room. The investigation would be lucky if even half a dozen people stay on.

_"Even so, I need to stay. The opportunity to work with L isn't something I can pass up. Kira is getting bolder every day."_ A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he stood up and began packing his things. He glanced to the back of the room and Watari was already gone.

He exited the station and ducked into an alley. Checking carefully to make sure there were no witnesses he vanished quietly in a swirl of Kamui.

-Break-

The land was shaking with such force one would think that an angry bijuu was rampaging outside the village. People were panicking as the Shinobi tried to direct the civilians to safety.

Naruto stood dumbstruck as he watched a wall of water rolling in from the distance.

This was it. After everything this is the way it ends for his people. The shinobi that lived would be scattered across the world and bloodlines weakened until no on who could use chakra is left. He could almost see the future in that moment.

He quickly went through several hand signs and wood began sprouting from the earth forming a massive seaworthy vessel. "Inu! Direct all evacuations to the ship and have any shinobi not directing the evacuation effort gather fresh water and food! Go!"

The Anbu saluted and quickly left to follow orders and people began filling the ship. Naruto was filled with sadness as he used Kamui to travel quickly to his home. His great grand-children were moving about the compound gathering the last of the useful supplies and sealing them into scrolls. He looked upon his remaining family with love as they helped each other. His own children, Himawari and Nagato had passed last year having outlived their own spouses by three decades. The ground shook again and he left his musing behind, now wasn't the time for that.

"Alright everyone get to the ship now! We've got minutes left at best! GO!" The ones close enough to hear spread the word and within two minutes had managed to get to the ship. There was a constant rumbling in the ground now and the wall of water was visible to even the civilians. He looked around the ship quickly and frowned as he saw families huddled together, clutching each other tight. The fear in the air was palpable. He started to go through more hand signs and the boat was lifted high into the air by a massive pillar of wood. Everything was running smoothly. Naruto watched with a sad gaze as the Hokage monument was split in half by a tremor.

His gaze quickly moved to Inu who kneeled respectfuly in front of him with one fist on the ground. "Naruto-sama the tremors are getting more violent and we've just lost contact with the Daimyo."

"Thank you Inu. I'm going to take some extra precautions then just in case. I want you to-" Naruto was cut off as the ground underneath the ship bowed upwards and Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he saw everything happen in slow motion. The Rinne-sharingan forced him to see every detail of the earth below exploding with all the force of a bijuudama. The scalding gases and pyroclastic flow hit first. He heard the screams of everyone unfortunate enough to not die instantly at the same time that he watched Inu turn to ash in an instant. Then the pain hit His flesh was stripped away by the heat before quickly regenerating. He though it would never end. He could have shifted into the monstrous form of the juubi. But his people, his family, were dead. His heart was torn apart by his grief, and screams of anguish and sorrow ripped from his throat.

His home was destroyed. His family was wiped out. His people were dead. Shinobi were wiped from the world, scattered or destroyed by this calamity. He felt himself hit the surface of the water below him and the physical pain ceased after his regeneration kicked in. He didn't move. He didn't want to. So, he was carried on the current of the ocean for an undetermined mount of time. His lungs burned but his body quickly healed itself. He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn't tell up from down nor did he care to. He floated aimlessly.

With a sob and a jolt Naruto jolted from sleep. He hated reliving that day. It was as painful to him as the day his wife died. He let his tears flow freely, unashamed of his pain as he calmed down. _"What a wonderful start to what I already knew was going to be a shitty day."_ Naruto thought to himself as he rolled out of bed.

-Break-

Naruto paid little attention as Chief Yagami delivered his speech to the task force, as he offered them a chance to leave. He paid no attention as the people began to leave. He was too lost in thought. It didn't happen as often anymore but when he dreamed of that awful day he was always in a funk for the rest of the day. He took a deep breath and pushed his past out of his mind, it wouldn't do to dwell on things that happened millenia ago.

"=well seven including myself." Chief Yagami was saying. "Still I'm grateful to there are still as many as six of you will to risk your lives to face evil." Naruto mentally snorted. _"If only."_ He thought to himself.

L spoke then,**"The fact that you've chosen to stay means that you have a strong sense of justice. I trust all of you."** Naruto started a little at this. _"Since when does L trust anyone?"_ Naruto listened as everyone complained about wanting to meet with L and followed with the rest of the group when the went downstairs to make their final decision at the request of L.

Hideki Ide began speak first when the doors closed behind them. "Why is he seeking help now?

There's only six of us. He solved all these difficult cases by himself in the past, so what makes this one so different? The way L's been conducting things so far, odds are he's gonna send a stand-in or a proxy of some kind to meet us instead of coming himself. It's not like we'd ever know." Naruto silently agreed with the man but said nothing yet as he continued to listen to the debate.

Aizawa sounded contemplative as he spoke. "A proxy, huh? Well, that is possible."

Matsuda followed Aizawa's comment with one of his own. "I believe L. I think we can trust him.

And besides, I don't really see how we can solve this case without his help." Mogi stated his agreement with Matsuda before Chief Yagami began to talk.

"From the beginning he's been very upfront about the fact that he would need the help of the police on this case. Perhaps we should think of it like... he's been waiting for this to happen all along." So the chief figured it out on his own then. He'd have to be more careful around him then. L wasn't the only threat here even if he was the biggest one. It was easy to forget that the chief was very observant and had a keen mind too. He was the lead investigator for a reason after all.

Matsuda interrupted his thoughts however. "Why would he do something like that?"

Naruto payed close attention as the chief began to speak again. "There were number of people on the task force who distrusted L before this investigation began and once we got started, we had detectives resigning left and right. Following that, classified information was leaked.

So I'm not surprised that he didn't trust us."

Matsuda interjected. "In other words he was waiting for the task force to get narrowed down to only those investigators he could trust. And to do that, he needed to weed out anyone who wasn't totally committed"

Chief Yagami gave a thoughtful hum before Ide spoke up. "If we're working with that guy, I'm leaving the task force. You don't have to worry. I won't try to follow you. I'm not interested in finding L." As Ide walked away the others made their decision to stay.

Chief Yagami turned to Naruto before asking, "Naruto. You've been very quiet over there. What are your thoughts?"

Naruto thought for a moment before answering,"To be honest I don't see any fault with L's tactics regarding the investigation force. He was just being careful and minimizing unnecessary risk. I don't blame him for taking precautions against Kira. After all, he has the best chance of solving the case and catching Kira and we know it. I'm sure he knows it too. I wouldn't call it arrogance but his track record speaks for itself. He's earned his self confidence."

Chief Yagami looked at him with approval before they made their way back to L. L gave them instructions to meet at the Teito Hotel and Naruto couldn't help the sense of anticipation in his stomach. He was finally going to meet L.

**AN: Sorry for the long wait! Please don't murder me! I'll try to get some more updates in but my life is a bit unstable right now. Obviously my original schedule for updates has been annihilated. I'll try to make an update at least once a month. Obviously the fic has been following the original story pretty closely so far but from here on out things will start changing. I'm not going to make Kira's life any easier and I'm hoping I'll do a good job. Thanks for reading and being so patient. Please rate and review. Constructive criticism is welcome and flames will be thoroughly ignored. Until next time!**

**P.S. I've put a poll up on my profile for this story's pairings. I don't know who to put Naruto with, if I even put him with someone. I would love your input. Thanks.**


	5. Author's Note

**AN: A reminder to all readers to please vote in the pairing poll to make sure your opinion gets taken into consideration. The poll will be open for ONE more week. I will begin work on the new chapter once the poll closes. This is important because it WILL affect the direction this story takes. I will not rewrite this story at the whims of unsatisfied readers who didn't like the pairing. No vote means no opinion and I refuse to feel bad for you. If everything stays on the schedule I have made for myself, the new chapter will be out by the end of the month. Thanks for reading, voting, and being patient. Until next time.**


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